In this 19th book of Redwall, the reigning lord of the ancient badger fortress Salamandastron, Lord Asheye, has had a vision of his own death and of the young badger who will lead after him—a scarred orphan in the company of enemies. He entrusts a spirited haremaid nicknamed Mad Maudie to search for this successor. Far away, on the ship of Vizka Longtooth and his sea raiders, a captive named Gorath silently awaits the opportunity to avenge the death of his badger kin at their hands, even as the raiders are heading to an attack on Redwall Abbey. Beginning with Redwall, first published in 1986, Brian Jacques' wildly popular fantasy series for readers 9 to 15 relates the heroic adventures of the talking mice, squirrels, hares, hedgehogs, and badgers who inhabit Redwall Abbey in Mossflower Wood. There are 22 novels in the long saga of Redwall (the final story was released posthumously in 2011), set in various eras of Mossflower history.